(07-18-2014 12:03 PM)Pan95 Wrote:  

(07-18-2014 11:23 AM)Middle Ages Wrote:  I am pretty concerned about our defense. I don't know how we are going to hold up at DE with the guys we have there. Bauer was arguably as valuable to the defense last year as Gaines. Add in the loss of Mouchantaf and we are thin, small, and inexperienced on the D-line. Covington is an All-American, but he's going to be dealing with double teams on most plays. I feel okay about the defensive backs- we have plenty of experience back there, if not a ton of speed. I am cautiously optimistic about the linebackers- there does not appear to be a superstar there but we have several good athletic guys. A weak defensive line makes it much tougher on everyone else though and I am afraid will cause issues for us all year.

Offensively we should be fine if we have decent QB play.

I share your concerns about the Defensive Ends. I think Derek Brown and Grant Peterson have a ton of potential, they are just lacking size. Of course I say noting that size isn't always a factor, especially if you have speed. Look at the defensive end for Oklahoma. He basically won the Sugar Bowl for his team against Alabama. And with Covington getting double teams, we should have a fearsome pass rush. Quality and experienced depth is where we may be lacking. Furthermore, it may be an omission/error, but the 2014 CUSA media guide does not have Brian Womac listed (or Justin Carter for that matter). Though strangely enough, it has Anthony Canady.

As for the interior, keep one person in mind regarding the Defensive interior: Ross Winship and all 6-4 290lbs of him.

Losing Mooch hurts, but remember he got hurt during the 8th game of the season against UTEP and Winship played admirably in relief down the stretch including in the 13th (CUSA championship) and 14th game (Liberty Bowl). The 2014 CUSA media guide indicates that Trey Martin has been moved back to Defensive Line, so there is some needed depth there.

Canady and Justin Carter are now off the RiceOwls.com roster.

Bradley Beazant is the brother of Rice tennis All American Natalie Beazant.

I noticed Yox is not listed on the web site. Is strength and conditioning not considered a FB coach? I was also hoping to see improvements from "working" with him this summer. When will we likely see their updated stats?

(07-21-2014 07:48 PM)jhruzek Wrote:  I noticed Yox is not listed on the web site. Is strength and conditioning not considered a FB coach? I was also hoping to see improvements from "working" with him this summer. When will we likely see their updated stats?

It's a separate department within athletics with Yoxall as Head S&C assigned to FB.

http://www.riceowls.com/strength/staff.html

(07-21-2014 05:01 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  Who is Hairston's uncle (the one who played baseball at Rice)?

The riceowls.com story said his uncle, Mike Wilson, was a 3-year deep snapper (1992-5) and 4-year baseball Letterman (1992-5).

Oh I missed that in the original story. How did we miss out on him to begin with? Mike was on Wayne Graham's first Rice baseball team and was one of the pitching standouts of our first regional team in 1995. Don Wilson was a great supporter of all the Rice programs and Mike's grandfather was Wendel Ley.

Broke down the roster some, did some re-classifying (e.g. Klare is more of a DT than a DE, both Pollards as CBs), found some interesting tid-bits:

107 total players listed, implying at least 22 walk-ons (85 scholarship players is max allowed)

With this latest influx of walk-ons, we are 7+ deep at the 2 LB spots (15 total LBs on the roster)

At the 5 starting secondary spots we will likely have all thrice lettered seniors. Can't say our secondary isn't experienced, at least on the front line.

Heaviest DE is lightly played Grant Peterson at 250lbs. Next heaviest is senior Zach Patt at 240lbs. Weights get down to 215lbs. (these may need to be updated)

11 total WRs, 6 are freshmen. Only 3 have letters, and those are the 3 likely starters (Taylor, Hull, Parks).

~100lbs of weight variation between the RBs (Turner to Carter)

17 total offensive lineman, 9 have lettered. (I left Trey Martin on the OL)

8 total DTs with Klare and Trevor Jones reclassified.

49 of the 107 total players are freshmen. (redshirts, grayshirts and new arrivals)

18 seniors, 19 juniors, 21 sophomores. If we assume 3 true frosh don't redshirt, that'll make the 2014 freshman class 22 strong going forward.

In excel, team looks to be pretty well balanced overall numbers wise. Main glaring concerns are the light DEs (again those numbers are probably stale), and the lack of any experienced depth at WR (although the freshman class looks strong).

(07-21-2014 07:48 PM)jhruzek Wrote:  I noticed Yox is not listed on the web site. Is strength and conditioning not considered a FB coach? I was also hoping to see improvements from "working" with him this summer. When will we likely see their updated stats?

Based on twitter, the Coach Yox workouts are intense. But that is anecdotal. Nothing concrete. More likely, as we get closer to kickoff, we will see their updated height/weight measurables but as for strength and speed, probably not. When Moondog was at Rivals, he was good about updating the fans on how the players were progressing with regard to strength and speed. With the new S&C guy and the new Rivals guys coupled with removal of Night of the Iron Owl, I don't know if we can expect to have those updates in the future.

(07-22-2014 12:10 PM)talon owl Wrote:  Broke down the roster some, did some re-classifying (e.g. Klare is more of a DT than a DE, both Pollards as CBs), found some interesting tid-bits:

107 total players listed, implying at least 22 walk-ons (85 scholarship players is max allowed)

With this latest influx of walk-ons, we are 7+ deep at the 2 LB spots (15 total LBs on the roster)

At the 5 starting secondary spots we will likely have all thrice lettered seniors. Can't say our secondary isn't experienced, at least on the front line.

Heaviest DE is lightly played Grant Peterson at 250lbs. Next heaviest is senior Zach Patt at 240lbs. Weights get down to 215lbs. (these may need to be updated)

11 total WRs, 6 are freshmen. Only 3 have letters, and those are the 3 likely starters (Taylor, Hull, Parks).

~100lbs of weight variation between the RBs (Turner to Carter)

17 total offensive lineman, 9 have lettered. (I left Trey Martin on the OL)

8 total DTs with Klare and Trevor Jones reclassified.

49 of the 107 total players are freshmen. (redshirts, grayshirts and new arrivals)

18 seniors, 19 juniors, 21 sophomores. If we assume 3 true frosh don't redshirt, that'll make the 2014 freshman class 22 strong going forward.

In excel, team looks to be pretty well balanced overall numbers wise. Main glaring concerns are the light DEs (again those numbers are probably stale), and the lack of any experienced depth at WR (although the freshman class looks strong).

Good stuff Talon. For a 4-2-5, it boggles my mind how many linebackers we have. And we may be 8 deep at linebacker this fall if Austin Williams enrolls.

Going forward, we need more Matt Simmonette/Trevor Jones type players as walkons. But 22 walkons...that's a lot depth especially with regard to special teams and practice.

Really impressive how many walk-ons we have this year. Any idea how good the walk ons are?

Was anyone at the Dallas event? If so, any feedback?

Looking forward to seeing everyone at Saint Arnold tonight. If you haven't yet decided whether you are going --- just go! It starts at 6:30:
https://online.alumni.rice.edu/default.a...entID=1965